"In fact, the thickness of the Earth's atmosphere, compared with the size of the Earth, is in about the same ratio as the thickness of a coat of shellac on a schoolroom globe is to the diameter of the globe. That's the air that nurtures us and almost all other life on Earth, that protects us from deadly ultraviolet light from the sun, that through the greenhouse effect brings the surface temperature above the freezing point. (Without the greenhouse effect, the entire Earth would plunge below the freezing point of water and we'd all be dead.) Now that atmosphere, so thin and fragile, is under assault by our technology. We are pumping all kinds of stuff into it. You know about the concern that chlorofluorocarbons are depleting the ozone layer; and that carbon dioxide and methane and other greenhouse gases are producing global warming, a steady trend amidst fluctuations produced by volcanic eruptions and other sources. Who knows what other challenges we are posing to this vulnerable layer of air that we haven't been wise enough to foresee?"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Science fiction authors from the United StatesNovelists from the United StatesAcademics from the United StatesAgnostics from the United StatesScience authors from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
In Wonder and Skepticism, Skeptical Inquirer (Jan-Feb 1995), 19, No. 1.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"We live in a complex age where many of the problems we face can, whatever their origins, only have solutions that inv…"
"The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every s…"
"Imagine, a room, awash in gasoline. And there are two implacable enemies in that room. One of them has 9,000 matches.…"
"It is important to distinguish between the amount of information and the quality of that information."
"There is a place with four suns in the sky — red, white, blue, and yellow; two of them are so close together that the…"
"It is easy to create an interstellar radio message which can be recognized as emanating unambiguously from intelligen…"
"We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that alm…"
"It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny …"
"In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," a…"
"Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pre…"